Alexandria’s DASH bus company is proposing changes to one-third of its routes, after a survey found low ridership on one route, and more passengers and increased traffic congestion on another.
DASH is proposing to drop midweekday and Saturday service on the AT7 route between City Hall and the Lee Recreation Center. During those times, the AT4 service would be extended to cover the route. In addition, DASH staff wants to split the longest bus route in the city, which runs from Braddock Road Metro station to Lincolnia, into two routes.
About one-quarter of DASH’s 14,000 daily riders use that route, said Sandy Modell, DASH general manager. Turning the AT2 route into two bus routes will improve timeliness, she said. Riders who travel from one end of the current line to the other will have to switch buses, but that is a minority of riders, Modell said.
“We felt the good we’re doing was worth it,” said Councilman Justin Wilson, the former chairman of the transit board. “We strive to remain on time, and that was one of the routes [where] we were having trouble doing that.”
Before the changes were proposed, DASH staff surveyed riders last year to pick the least disruptive place to split the route, Wilson said. It was no longer feasible to increase the route’s capacity or timeliness by adding more buses, Modell said.
Splitting the route increases costs by about $962,000, including the price of two new buses and operating costs, Modell said. That figure is already included in DASH’s budget, Wilson said.
The transit board is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the changes, following a public hearing at 5:30 p.m., 301 King Street.
